The Colorado Avalanche have one of the best offences in the NHL this season, currently ranked second in goals for per game (GF/GP) with 3.82 and eighth in power-play percentage (PP%) at 25.2. The is built to score tons of goals, and has been even better with the additional help of Valeri Nichushkin, who has capitalized on the power play, has been playing on the top line, and seeing increased chances in front of the net.
Nichushkin is getting a bit overshadowed by the sheer dominance of Nathan MacKinnon and the play of Cale Makar and his current push to outperform the season he won his first Norris Trophy. Even with his teammates playing at trophy-winning levels, Nichushkin been able to capitalize on their play, setting him up for a career season.
Nichushkin Capatilizing On Opportunites
Going into this season without captain Gabriel Landeskog was a massive hit to team depth. Luckily, the team had players such Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen, and recent free-agent signing Jonathan Drouin to solidify the top six. However, as Lehkonen went down early in the season with an upper-body injury and Drouin failed to start the season on the right foot, Nichushkin was able to capitalize on his time on the top line and cement himself there
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Nichuskin, so far this season, has seen a total of 311 minutes with MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. The trio has been the Avalanche’s best forward line, as they lead all lines with a 56.3 Expects Goals For (xGoals For), good for 10th-best percentage-wise in the league.
Nichushkin saw time on the top line last season when Landeskog went down with his knee injury and was able to shine in his limited time up until the end of the season. He has seen an increase in ice time the past two seasons due to his increased production and his play on the top line.
Feeding Off The Power Play
Goal-scoring-wise, Nichushkin has also been one of the best in the entire NHL. He is sixth in Expected Goals and has a higher percentage than players like the Boston Bruins’ David Pastrnak, Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl, and even his teammate MacKinnon. He is also one of the highest-scoring players on the power play. While he only has 16 points on the man advantage, 13 are goals, making him the second-highest-power-play-goal scorer so far this season, only behind Sam Reinhart from the Flordia Panthers, who has 16. His 13 power play goals came in 40 games, which made him the sixth player in Avalanche history to score that many power-play goals within 40 regular season games.
Unfortunate News Affecting The Team
While this season for Nichushkin has been going great so far — and he has the luck on his side to not deal with any significant injuries — there is recent news that will impact him personally and the team going forward. It was announced on Jan. 16 that Nichushkin will be entering the Players Assistance Program for the foreseeable future. The reason is unknown, but this will be his second time entering the program; the first time was last season during the first round of the 2023 NHL playoffs against the Seattle Kraken. The NHL Players Assistance Program and Nichushkin have released a statement on him entering the program.
It’s unfortunate to see any player have to enter that program, which has been a recurring theme with the Avalanche these past two seasons. Last season saw defenseman Bowen Byram enter the program, dealing with mental health issues and physical issues regarding his health and related to concussions he dealt with. Earlier this season, defenceman Samuel Girard entered the program dealing with mental health and alcohol-related issues. We all hope that whatever Nichushkin is dealing with can be helped and dealt with immediately. We trust the NHL Players’ Association to do whatever it takes to help Nichushkin get the help he needs to be a better hockey player and a better person for teammates, family, and friends.